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Storm mid-season review

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The fans have had their say. The era of greatness was supposed to be over for this club. It hasn't happened yet. The signing of Brett Finch was meant to drown the club. Again, it hasn't happened yet.

The side entered the competition against the side most popular to take out the premiership, the St George Illawarra Dragons. Yet, they came out of the gruelling encounter with bumps, bruises and most important two competition points. Since then, they have hidden under the radar a bit more then the past few seasons. However at times they've been just as impressive.

The Storm, to the surprise of many have emerged from the first half of the year as one of the strongest teams in the competition. The loss of Israel Folau, Michael Crocker and Jeremy Smith hasn't damaged the club as much as we all thought. The form of young gun Joseph Tomane plus the performances by usual suspects Greg Inglis and Billy Slater still show the club will attempt to give the competition a crack for their seventh straight finals appearance. The usual side full of flash and unpredictability has definitely returned for 2009.

It has not been all good news with some suspect performances from the club in the earlier parts of the season, particularly against the Titans and Tigers. However recent form shows they are starting to find their stride and with a clean injury list coming into the second half of the season they're definitely a chance to hit the form that has made them one of the most dominate sides this decade. Victories against teams like Canberra and Brisbane has definitely proved that to be true.

The road to the finals for Melbourne is one that fans can feel comfortable with. Of the eleven matches remaining for Melbourne in this premiership, only five of them will be up against teams currently in the top eight. The road is Tigers (H), Raiders (A), Knights (H), Bye, Eels (A), Sharks (H), Dragons (A), Cowboys (H), Knights (A), Sea Eagles (H), Roosters (H) and Warriors (A).

Surely they are expected to participate in the finals once again. If they get in, who knows what will happen. A wise betting man wouldn't put them out of contention for the title quite yet.